Survey Footprint Explorer: A Browser-Based Interactive Tool for Visualizing and Cross-Matching Astronomical Survey Footprints
S. L. Ahad, R. Brilenkov, J. E. Taylor
TLDR
Survey Footprint Explorer is a browser-based tool for visualizing and comparing sky footprints of 13 major astronomical imaging surveys.
Key contributions
- Visualizes and compares 13 major astronomical survey footprints (X-ray to near-IR).
- Client-side JavaScript, requiring no server, accessible from any modern browser.
- Renders footprints using MOC maps via interactive globe and full-sky projection.
- Allows users to upload source catalogs for client-side survey membership testing.
Why it matters
Astronomers need to efficiently compare and cross-match data from various surveys. This tool simplifies this complex task by providing an accessible, interactive, and client-side solution. It enhances research by enabling quick identification of overlapping regions and source memberships across diverse datasets.
Original Abstract
We present the Survey Footprint Explorer (v2.5.0), a browser-based interactive tool for visualising and comparing the sky footprints of major astronomical imaging surveys. The tool is implemented entirely in client-side JavaScript and requires no server infrastructure, making it immediately accessible from any modern web browser. Thirteen survey footprints are currently included: Euclid DR1, LSST Wide-Fast-Deep, the Nancy Grace Roman HLWAS and HLTDS (full and deep tiers), DESI Legacy Imaging Survey DR9, the Dark Energy Survey (DES), the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam survey (HSC), the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS), the Ultraviolet Near-Infrared Optical Northern Survey (UNIONS), the eROSITA All-Sky Survey (eRASS1), and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Legacy (ACT) survey spanning wavelengths from X-ray to near-infrared and covering footprints from 7.7 deg$^{2}$ to 21,524.4 deg$^{2}$. Survey footprints are encoded as Multi-Order Coverage (MOC) maps and rendered via two complementary views: an interactive globe powered by Aladin Lite v2, and a full-sky equirectangular projection. All MOC intersection calculations, including multi-survey overlap area computation and per-source membership testing, are performed client-side. Users may upload source catalogues in CSV or TSV format and download an augmented version with boolean survey membership columns appended. The link to access the tool is provided at the end of the Summary section.
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